


The Full Force of the Wind

by BlueMinuet



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Alternate Universe - Shattered Glass, Canon-Typical Violence, Evil autobots, F/M, Good decepticons, Threats of Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-02 13:59:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20277031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueMinuet/pseuds/BlueMinuet
Summary: Finally having defeating the evil Autobots, Starscream is left with the scraps of what’s left of Cybertron, starving and wounded Decepticons, dangerous lurking Autobots, and more and more angry neutrals trickling in every day. In a last ditch effort he set out to find the last hope for his people: Asking the Warlord and City Thraller Windblade for help, who currently has the titan Metroplex under her command.





	The Full Force of the Wind

**Author's Note:**

> All canon elements of Shattered Glass have been considered, and then mostly ignored unless they were useful to me. Fight me. 
> 
> Also, please check out [the amazing art companion pieces from roboapollo.](https://twitter.com/blue_mels/status/1162586964832350208?s=20)

Starscream angled his wings, trying to cut a swath through the sandstorm raging over the Sea of Rust. Certainly this was the last place a flier would want to find themselves, but supposedly it had been the last known location that the dreaded titan Metroplex had been spotted.

Hiding a gargantuan monster of destruction was no easy task, but the Sea of Rust was one of the few places one might have a chance of pulling off such a feat.

Starscream was no slouch as a flier, though he had to admit that such athletics had always come second to his studies and experiments; a fact which he now very much regretted, as he tried to purge as much rust debris from his turbines as possible. He felt as if his engine would choke at any moment, and send him spiraling to the ground. He was just thinking of turning back or trying to find shelter for a break when the sky above him darkened. He directed his attention upward as best as he could, and felt a cold shock of dread as the darkness above him descended, taking the shape of a giant hand.

He rolled, and barely missed the giant swat, though the force of wind from its passing made him unsteady. He was too distracted just trying to keep himself in the air that he didn’t notice another flying form until it was too late, ramming straight into his fuselage. He transformed, half from the sheer shock of the hit, and the damage readouts screaming in his head fought him as he tried to transform back. 

He was in a free-fall, bracing for impact, when suddenly it came, both quicker and softer than he had feared. He forced his optics open, and through the thick spray of sand threatening his eyes, he saw a face staring down at him. 

He was frozen instantly, at the striking face of his savior. The blue crest of her helm was unlike anything he has seen from a native Cybertronian, streaked through with pink like splattered energon. It took him a moment to realize that she was holding him, clearly having snatched him from the air. By the time he put that together, she was dropping him, and he fell with a thunk to the metal surface they were perched on. She stood up to her full height, and a cape unfurled from under her wings, billowing in the wind as she looked down at him with an icy smirk. She raised a hand, waving for him to follow him, before turning with a swish of her cape. 

Starscream finally managed to push himself up to sitting. He followed her with his eyes as she walked away to some structure in the distance… A structure which he soon realized was the head of the titan. He jumped to his feet in alarm, finally understanding that he was perched on the shoulder of the giant he had come looking for. He had to focus enough to stop his wings from twitching in fear, and finally, carefully, followed her. 

Soon they were at the titan’s neck, and an access panel opened. It was so well hidden, that Starscream never would have seen it at a casual glance. And perhaps more distressing was that Windblade had not appeared to do anything to open it; rather it just opened in response to her mere presence. She looked over her shoulder again to smirk at him before ducking into the panel. Starscream gulped and followed. 

As soon as he was within, the panel snapped shut behind him. He looked around, optics adjusting to the lowlight within, and saw Windblade already climbing the slender stairs leading upwards. 

“Wait,” Starscream said, fumbling up after her. 

She slowed only enough to shoot him a glance. 

“I…” Starscream had given some thought to what he would say when he finally found the Camien Warlord and City Thraller, but thus far nothing had gone to plan, and all of his words seemed ill-fitting. “Thank you,” he decided to say instead. “For saving me.” 

Windblade smirked over her shoulder at him, and let out a laugh that tinkled like glass shattering on the ground. “You’re a funny one.” 

“Am I?” Starscream asked. 

“Not everyone would thank the person who ordered him to be swatted out of the sky.” 

Starscream gulped, despite his best efforts not to. “So, it’s true. You can control the titan?” 

Windblade came up to the landing at the top of the stairs (and secretly, Starscream was glad to see an end to the climb). She gave him a sharp glance. “So, you’ve heard of me.” 

“I’m sorry,” Starscream said. “I suppose I should introduce myself. I’m—” 

“I know who you are, Starscream,” she said, cutting him off. She made a gesture at what appeared to be a solid wall, and it folded back at her command. 

Starscream paused, frozen in place. “How do you…” 

Windblade abandoned him, striding into the newly opened room. Starscream nervously peered in after her. The room was wide and expansive, but his view was drawn to the huge orb in the middle of the room, flashing lights and inscrutable symbols shimmering over its surface. It took him a moment to fully understand what he was looking at; the brain of a titan. 

Windblade was striding across the room, towards an outcropping of panels that formed the shape of a throne. Starscream forced his eyes away from the brain, to see that there were several others, scattered on the opposite side of the room. Windblade looked back to him, bidding him forward, then looked back at her cadre. “Leave us,” she said, waving a hand at them. 

“Mistress,” one of them said, stepping forward, and shooting a nervous glance at Starscream. “Do you really trust this… outsider?” 

Windblade smiled at her, cupping her chin. “Oh, dear Chromia, not to worry… The lap dog of the cowardly Megatron is nothing I can’t handle.” 

Chromia seemed unconvinced, but slinked away with the rest of the bots, leaving them alone. 

Starscream tried to control the nervous flitter of his wings as he walked up to her. “So… lap dog? Is that how you know me?” 

Windblade smiled, pacing around the circular room, away from his advance. “Oh, I hope I didn’t bruise your feelings. As you know, we few Camiens that threw in our lot into your war came in late…” She was on the opposite side of the brain module now, but shifted to look at him around it. “I’m sure there’s a lot about you that I don’t know yet.” 

Starscream said nothing to that, trying to get a feel for her. With her pacing, he couldn’t help but feel like he was being assessed by a carnivorous beast, looking for an opening to strike at. 

“After all, I understand now you are the rightful ruler of Cybertron, with the Autobots defeated, and your leader dead.” Windblade’s pacing brought her closer to him. She was frowning slightly now, though Starscream couldn’t quite place the feeling. “I could say much about my feelings on your movement, but at least you have a solid chain of command.” 

“You’ve heard correctly, I am the new leader of Cybertron,” Starscream said. “And that’s why I’ve come looking for you.” 

“Is that so?” Windblade asked, giving an amused smirk as she brushed past him. 

“My people need help,” Starscream said. “Not just the remaining Decepticons, but the neutrals and the Autobots as well. Many of our ships were destroyed in the final battle, and Iacon is still in shambles. There is little energon to go around, and mining operations are nearly impossible without an infrastructure.” 

“And?” Windblade asked. 

Starscream paused, finding himself at a loss. “And… and you have a giant walking city.” 

“Yes, obviously I do,” Windblade said, turning on a heel to face him. “And why would I let your band of cowards and defeated wretches sully _my_ city?” 

“I…” Starscream floundered, trying to remember the speech he had so eloquently prepared. He fell to his knees before her, clasping his hands together. “Please, Mistress Windblade, there must be some agreement we can come to. Some kind of arrangement we can make.” 

Windblade looked at him, seeming to consider. Starscream tried to say something else, launch into a speech about the needs of his people, but whatever he was about to say was lost as — quick as a lick of flame — Windblade kicked him in the throat with her heel. The force of the blow, in addition to surprise, knocked Starscream flat on his back. Before he could even convince his wincing optics to fully open, Windblade stomped her heel over his cockpit, pinning him to the ground. A sword that he hadn’t seen her draw was held to his throat. The tip teased at his energon lines, coaxing his head up to look at her. 

Windblade smirked at him, making a tutting noise. “Pathetic. Groveling on the ground. You’ve done little to disavow me of the belief that you are a dog, begging for scraps at the foot of whatever master is available to you.” 

Starscream gulped, unsure of what he could say that wouldn’t end with his energon staining her feet. Instead, he merely waited, frozen, until Windblade seemed to tire of terrorizing him, and stepped away, letting him free and sheathing her sword again. 

“Have you heard of The Way of Flame?” She didn’t wait for Starscream’s response before continuing, rightly assuming his ignorance. “It is the primary religion of Caminus. You see, we worship Solus Prime, the Goddess of the Forge, and Dreaded Warrior Queen. We believe, as she taught, that one must surrender themself to the fire of the forge, burning away the slag, and allow yourself to become the perfect weapon.” 

She paused for a moment, pacing again for a beat before turning back to Starscream with a wistful smile. “That’s what drew me to your foe, Optimus Prime. You could see it in his eyes. That fire. The fire of one that had been through the forge, pounded and beaten, but unbroken, and unfettered by useless impurities. The perfect weapon for war and conquest.” 

“Is that so?” Starscream said, worrying his fingers at his neck as he slowly sat up. 

“That is, I thought he was,” Windblade offered a hand to Starscream. “But you know how that turned out.” 

Starscream hesitantly took her hand, and was slightly surprised when she actually helped him up. “Windblade… I know you chose the other side in our war, but… the war is over now. We must be able to find some kind of common ground. Certainly there must be some reason you are still on Cybertron.” 

“Of course there’s a reason I’m still on Cybertron,” Windblade said, pulling her hand away from him and regarding her clawed fingers. “You see, I’m currently having a bit of a disagreement with one of the leaders on my homeworld.” 

“Oh?” 

“Yes,” Windblade said. “You see, the Mistress of the Flame is currently under the impression that she is the rightful political and religious leader of Caminus.” She paused briefly, looking at him. “And I, on the other hand, believe that her energon should soak the dirt and her spark chamber crushed under my boot.” She punctuated this with a stamping of her foot, the thruster of her heel striking the floor and echoing throughout the room. 

Starscream’s face fell in shock. 

“So, you may be right, Starscream,” she said, seeming to either not notice or not care about the change in his demeanor. “There might be some agreement we could come to.” 

“What do you—” 

“I need an army,” she said, continuing past him. “And, as much as I had doubts about you and your ilk, it seems you’ve triumphed, against all odds.” 

“You can’t be serious,” Starscream said, backing away. 

Windblade grinned. “Can’t I?” 

“I…” Starscream flustered, taking another step back. “My people only just extricated themselves from a brutal war. You can’t… I can’t ask them to get involved in another conflict.” 

Windblade shrugged. “I didn’t say it had to be tomorrow.” She closed the gap he had made between them, pursuing him. “However, if I were to let your people live within my city… you would owe me. And someday, when your energon wells are producing significantly and your people have picked themselves back up… Perhaps you could remember my kindness.” 

“I… I don’t know,” Starscream said, with a muted shake of his head. 

Windblade caught his wagging chin with her hand, holding him firmly in place. “Think it over.” She smiled, leaning in close enough to kiss him, close enough that he could see the sharpened points of her fangs. “You see, Starscream, I think you were right. I think I was wrong about you.” She looked from his lips to his eyes. “When I look into your optics, I see something. Just a speck of something hard and strong. Underneath all that slag and rust… I think if you really gave yourself to forge, you could be just as sharp and cutting as Optimus.” 

At that, Starscream stumbled backwards, and fled.  
  


* * *

  
“Well, I don’t understand the problem, you should just do it.” 

Starscream glared across the ramshackle room at his conversational partner, who was currently leaning against the wall, scuffing the paint with the deadly spikes covering his shoulders. 

“How can you say that?” Starscream asked. 

Bumblebee shrugged, digging his shoulder spikes even deeper into the wall. “I figured that’s what you wanted to hear. I mean, if you had wanted someone to talk you out of it, you would have asked one of the Decepticons. Someone with morals.” 

Starscream stood up and paced, though the room had very little space for it. Their current base of operation was a crumbling building on the fringes of former Iacon. Shockwave had confirmed that it was not _currently_ in danger of collapsing, but gave no assurance of safety beyond that. 

“She’s asking me to promise myself to another war. To promise all of my people to that.” He turned on Bumblebee, his eyes pleading. “Certainly you must understand why I can’t do that. Your people are in the same situation.” 

“The pit they are,” Bumblebee spat. “My people lost. And they’re only free now because you didn’t have the means to hold us. And then you struck that bargain with me, to keep them under control.” Bumblebee laughed. “So I don’t know why you’re wringing your hands over it _now_. Seems to me you should be getting used to making shady deals at this point.” 

“This is different,” Starscream muttered, voice growing meak. “This could be another war.”

Bumblebee let out a loud, boisterous laugh at that. “And letting the Autobots out is different?” He smiled. “You know that if we had the resources to finish the job, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. We’d be right back in the war, and I’d have already killed you.” 

Starscream frowned. “Please stop saying that.” 

“What? That I’m going to kill you?” Bumblebee pushed himself up from the wall, shooting a bemused glance at Starscream. “But that’s what makes it so fun, Star. I can tell you to your face that I’m going to kill you, and it won’t even make a difference. Because you’re not willing to do anything that would actually stop me.” He walked over to the ‘window’, which was nothing more than a jagged hole in the wall, looking down at the dusty street. “See, that’s why this wouldn’t even be a problem for an Autobot. She’s offering you everything you could want for a promise to follow through on a different task at an unspecified future date.” He spun on his heel, turning with a wide, glowing smile. “Plenty of time to kill her before you ever have to hold up your end of the bargain.” 

“But…” Starscream’s protest died in his throat as he reminded himself that the protest about the immorality of such a thing would fall on deaf ears. 

“I could kill her for you, if you want,” Bumblebee offered, seeming delighted to offer such a gesture of help. “It would be fun. And it would also make sure…” He trailed off, walking over to Starscream, only to push himself up on his tiptoes, and flick Starscream’s nose. “That she doesn’t get a chance to kill you before I do.” He punctuated that with another wide, affectionate smile. “I called dibs, after all.” 

Starscream stared down at him, frozen in place, trying to make his wings stop nervously trembling.  
  


* * *

  
Starscream returned to Windblade, his trek through the Sea of Rust far less eventful this time, almost as if the titan wanted Starscream to find him. He had encountered no resistance entering the titan, and though the interior of the mech was cavernous and confusing, Starscream eventually found his way to the brain module once more. 

When he got there, Windblade was already sitting on her throne, legs crossed and fingers steepled together. “Well then?” she asked, without preamble. 

If Starscream hadn’t already suspected she had been waiting for him, perhaps even watching his progress, that certainly would have cleared up any ambiguity. 

“I’ve come to accept your terms,” he said. “But I have a condition of my own to add.” 

Windblade gave a surprised smirk. She leaned back in her throne, giving him an appraising look. “I’m already promising you the use of my city. I won’t give you more than that easily.” 

“I want…” He paused, trying to steady the trembling in his voice. He clenched his fists, and started over. “You asked me to support you in your battle against the Mistress of Flame. And I will do that. However, in exchange… I’d like you to help me keep Bumblebee in check.” 

Windblade rested her chin on her fingers, still smirking at him. “Bumblebee?” 

“You know him, right?” Starscream asked. “The Autobot second in command.” 

“According to a select few,” Windblade said. “Yes, I know _of_ him.” 

“For now, he’s working with me. To keep the peace.” Starscream looked away. “However…” 

He looked back when Windblade chuckled. “I can see it now. I was right.” 

He raised an eyebrow, in a silent questioning. 

“I can see the slag burning away,” Windblade said, explaining. “So, I help house your people. You’ll help me secure my place as the Queen of Caminus, and you’ll keep your place as the King of Cybertron.” 

“I’m not sure I like the sound of _king_,” he muttered. 

“Oh, but I think it suits you nicely,” Windblade said. “But in addition to that, you would ask me to help crush your enemies, my former allies?”

“If you have a problem with that—”

“Oh, I can assure you I don’t,” she cut in quickly. “I quite like the idea. Failures such as them deserve no quarter.” Her grin turned wicked, revealing her sharp fangs again. “However, I believe we’ll need something more personal to seal a deal such as this.” 

“What?” Starscream asked. 

She curled her clawed fingers at him, bidding him closer. Hesitantly, he stepped closer to her. When he was just inches from her throne, looking down at her with a mixture of confusion and fear, she stood up, grinning.

“Kiss me,” she said. 

His eyes blew wide, staring at her. 

“One ruler to another,” she continued. She reached up, teasing his lip with one wickedly sharp claw. Starscream felt like she might draw energon from his lip at any moment. “A pact. A show of trust.” 

Starscream steeled himself. He reached out, resting his hands on each of her arms, then slowly leaned in to kiss her. To his surprise, she shot forward, mashing into his lips with the ferocity of a storm, pulling his lips between her fangs. 

“There then,” she whispered into his lips once she deigned to let him go. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?” 

Starscream didn’t respond. 

“We’re going to do great things, you and I, Lord Starscream.”


End file.
